A Concord Pastor Comments: Praying 10 minutes today: FRIDAY 6/29

Find a quiet time and place to pray... take a few deep breaths...

be still... and know that God is near...

A word to reflect on:

Jesus said, "As the Father loves me,
   so I love you.
Remain in my love... I have told you this
   so that my joy might be in you
      and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment:
   love one another."
- John 15

Well, this time you put it right out there, Lord.

You're telling me in no uncertain terms: you love me!
You love me as your Father loves you -

and that's a love so great I can't begin to imagine it,
even on the good days...

You love me...

Is any truth more wonderful and at the same time

so difficult to take in, to believe, to accept?

You. love. me.

I've done nothing to earn or deserve your love, Lord:

in fact, there are plenty of reasons for you not to love me -

and yet, you do...

Your love for me abides

even when I've stopped looking for or believing

there's something good and valuable and lovable in who I am...

Help me see, Lord,
that I'm loved not because of my good deeds
but that my goodness lies in being loved by you...

Help me see that my value rests not in my own worthiness
but in my being cherished in your heart...

Help me see that I'm lovable because you have first loved me

and take delight in who I am...

Help me see these things, Lord,

because often I forget them

or cannot see them at all...

To remain in your love,

to know from day to day there's a place for me

in your heart, your thoughts, in your care:

what peace that would bring my to soul,

what joy that would give my spirit...

You love me, Lord, because you made me

and though I only imperfectly reflect your image within me,

you recognize, even in my brokenness,

the divine imprint of your creative hand...

You made me for joy, Lord,

you made me to be at peace with you and my neighbor

and to be at peace with myself...

You made me to be your companion

and to be family and friends with others:

to share myself in love and in thanksgiving
for what you've shared with me...

Because you desire a peace for me that's deep and wide

you lead me to let go of what keeps me from joy:

my selfishness, sin and self-pity,
      my resisting seeing in myself the good that you see,
finding in my heart the treasure you find,
delighting in who I am as you do...

Help me to see myself as you see me, Lord...

More than suggesting or inviting me to love others, Lord:
   you command me to love the people in my life.
You teach me that in loving others,
   in stepping outside myself, moving beyond my own walls,
      daring to enter others' lives and allowing others to enter mine,
   in having the courage to live as one who's loved by God:
it's in all of this that I'll begin to find the joy you desire for me,
   the joy you offer me, the joy that's your gift to me...

As the Father loves me, so I love you.
Remain in my love that my joy might be yours
and your joy might be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another...

I thank you, Lord, for this quiet time and place,
   this moment of prayer with you...

Open me to the love you offer,
   visit my heart with the joy you bring me...

Help me to love those around me
   and in loving them open my heart to the peace
      that makes my joy complete...

In the stillness you are here with me, Lord:

love me as your Father loves you,

help me remain in your love all this day

and open my heart to this day's joy...

To ponder and pray over...

How, this day, will God's love for me reveal itself?
Will I look for it? be open to it? accept it?
How will I share God's love with others today?

What will I ask of the Lord today?
From this prayer time, what word or phrase will I keep with me
to carry through the rest of my day?

(After you spend some time with these questions,

pray the reflection above one more time...)

Here are some tips for praying 10 minutes a day. If you find these daily prayer reminders helpful, please let me know - and share them with others. You'll find an archive of these daily posts here.